Alex Rodriguez regrets giving Patrick Mahomes advice to play baseball over football ... but Joe Mauer once actually made that tough decision -- and he tells TMZ Sports he isn't ruing the choice one bit.

We caught up with the Minnesota Twins legend on Monday, just a day after A-Rod revealed he tried to get a 10-year-old Mahomes to quit the gridiron for the diamond -- and he made it clear, he's happy with how his life played out after he made the big pick. Getty

Mauer, if you weren't aware, used to be a helluva quarterback. He was the top high school football recruit in the country ... and at one point, he accepted a scholarship offer to play for Bobby Bowden 's Florida State Seminoles.

But Mauer was also a beast behind home plate -- and after he got taken by the Twins

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